Swing Swing
by cruelfeline
Summary: Bored one day, Taruto finds Pudding at the playground, resulting in some fun and some confused feelings for the young alien. TP Ficlet


AN: Drabble time! Due to the precious few T/P fics in the TMM category, and due to the fact that my friend Toni (Sugary Fluff) _adores_ this pairing (though I've never met anyone who doesn't :P), I had to write this before continuing on with my main fic. Any T/P fans, I hope you enjoy. I also rather hope I do this IC… I'm not entirely used to this pairing…

Disclaimer: I don't own TMM. I wish I did. I could… _repair_ certain things… :coughep39cough:

* * *

Taruto was _bored_. 

It was the one day Pai had willingly allowed Kisshu and Taruto some free time (even the eldest alien was somewhat tired after a week of daily battles against the Mew Mews), and the brunette was bored.

He had been flying about Tokyo aimlessly for the last half hour trying to find something to pique his interest, but the search had been disappointingly unsuccessful so far. Of course, he could always create some Chimera Animals, wreak some havoc, and amuse himself that way, but that rather defeated the purpose of a day off.

Taruto didn't really feel like fighting today, anyway.

Another few minutes of flying brought him to the playground, and he stopped for a moment, realizing that the normally crowded park was occupied by only one person. Normally, this wouldn't really matter to him (in his opinion, he was too old for jungle gyms anyway), but a cursory glance proved that the one person happily swinging on one of the swings was none other than Pudding.

_Wonder what she's doing here…_

His curiosity and utter boredom overrode whatever Pai had told him about fraternizing with humans (along with that bizarre little fluttering sensation that seemed to hit his stomach every time the monkey-girl gave him one of her cheerful smiles, but he rather determinedly pushed _that_ thought to the side), and he floated down, his lips slowly twisting into a mischievous smirk as he hovered behind her.

_I bet this'll scare her_!

Taking a deep breath, he yelled out a satisfyingly loud "Boo!", grinning immediately afterwards in anticipation of the little blonde tumbling to the ground with a startled shriek.

He ended up blinking confusedly as she leaped off, landed perfectly on her feet, and whipped around with big smile on her face.

"Taru-Taru!"

He blushed when that silly nickname left her lips…and immediately gave his head a little shake to try to get rid of that shock of funny feeling that accompanied the blush. Grin now a firm scowl, he glared down at the girl.

"Don't _call_ me that!" was the automatic response to her little giggle as she gazed up at him, the clear playfulness in her eyes a stark contrast to the wary, grudging annoyance in his.

He was preparing to shoot some petty insult at her, but as usual, she beat him to speech.

"What are you doing here?"

He left the insult in favor of crossing his arms and sneering down at her in what he believed a superior, imposing tone.

"I came to wreck the park, of course," he lied, calling back his little smirk, "I'm gonna make all the children cry, including y—"

"But there're no children here!" she interrupted, making him scowl. "There's only Pudding!"

"Well, then I'll—"

Instead of declaring that he would fight her, he succeeded only in gritting his teeth in aggravation as she butted in _again_, that annoyingly _cute_ smile still plastered on her little face.

"Taru-Taru came to play with Pudding!"

_That_ was so…so… gah!

It frustrated him so much, he nearly fell out of the air while he yelled back at her, little fists clenched, body twitching in petty exasperation.

"I did _not_ come to play with you! I came to fight, so there!"

Of course, at the end of that sentence, Taruto did the most _mature_ thing he could think of: stuck his tongue out.

He glared back at the Mew, hoping that this forceful announcement would extinguish her _annoyingly_ happy mood and make her cry.

Or, at least make her stop smiling at him in that overly sweet way; he _knew_ that he was blushing, and that made it only harder to keep calm, which only led to more blushing, which…

Unfortunately, Pudding was either enjoying how flustered the little alien was getting, or was totally oblivious to it. Actually, he didn't really know which it was; both seemed equally likely as she looked up at him with sparkling eyes, seeming to ignore his last statement, adorably tilting her head to one side.

"Pudding-chan was swinging! Does Taru-Taru want to swing?"

"_No_, I don't want to swing! Why would I do something so baby-ish?" he shot back, the effect of his question ruined by the way he pouted and turned his nose up. Pudding, however, was unfazed. In fact, her little grin widened.

"I bet you're scared of swinging!"

Well, there went any hope of keeping calm.

"I am _not!_ Why would I be afraid of some stupid human toy?"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

While Taruto grew more agitated with each retort, Pudding only seemed to grow more amused, yelling back at him with a laugh in her voice.

"You are so!"

"Am _not_! Why would I be afraid of _that_? I can _fly_!"

"Well, if you're not afraid of it, then show me!"

"Fine, I _will_!"

Only when Pudding burst into a fit of shrieking giggles did the alien realize what he had just said, and again, he acted with _amazing_ maturity, pouting at the girl as he floated down to sit on the nearest swing. Fixing her with a stubborn look, he began to swing his legs, as he had seen human children do before, to begin swinging.

Apparently, he had missed something in his observations, because he got absolutely no where. Blinking in slight embarrassment, he shifted his gaze back to the giggling Pudding.

"What're you laughing at?"

She countered his dark tone with a final giggle before answering.

"You look so silly!"

Taruto narrowed his eyes in another glare, crossing his arms and floating a few inches above the swing seat to keep from falling off as he did so.

"Yeah, well, why would I know how to play on some stupid Earth toy?"

Instead of laughing at him some more, the little girl did something that rather alarmed him: she happily marched over to stand in back of him.

He whirled around to meet her shining eyes.

"What're you—"

"I'll teach you!" she replied simply grabbing him by the shoulders, spinning him back around, and pushing him back down into the seat. "First, you have to sit down."

Her sudden touch managed to rob him of even a strangled "Hey," and he plopped back down into the seat as she pressed her small hands into his back, pushing him forward a bit. Having had his arms crossed, his frantically grabbed for the swing chains, swaying slightly for balance as she waited for him to swing back, then pushed again. He recovered enough from his surprise to give a startled yelp. She only giggled again in response, but pushed him a little more gently until he had a better grip.

Taruto squirmed a little as Pudding pushed him again and again, a nagging feeling of discomfort at the human girl's touch forcing a frown to mar his expression. After a while, as she cheerful encouraged him to relax, that frown began to fade, and after a minute or so, he found a content smile slowly taking its place as the wind rushed through his chestnut hair, rushed against his face.

The first time he managed to swing up to a respectable height, however, his heart skipped a beat as he came falling back for the first truly substantial distance.

Even while he gave a soft gasp, preparing to right himself by flying up and off the swing, only to suddenly feel Pudding's gentle hands catch him as he swung backwards, cradling him for a split second before pushing him back up even higher. Again, that sinking feeling of falling, but again, it was countered by the laughing girl. A few more swings, each ending in an encouraging giggle from Pudding, resulted in the alien boy fully relaxing, even allowing his body to enter the rhythm of the swing.

It felt rather nice, actually. Not as good as flying, but then, this had something that flying didn't…

He was gradually, tentatively, beginning to rather enjoy the fact that every time he fell back down, he got to feel…

At the moment that thought crossed his mind, he felt himself blush harder than he had, he believed, _ever_ blushed before.

A sudden panic overtook him.

_I'm not supposed to… I'm not…!_

The next time the swing fell back to Pudding, it was empty. Taruto hovered in the air above her, cheeks still red, eyes focused on the blonde girl, who stood looking back, perhaps with an air of slight confusion, but still with that natural friendliness sparkling in her wide, innocent eyes.

"Didn't you have fun, Taruto?" she asked sweetly, cocking her head to one side, giving him that look of total trust, that look that he had lately been finding so _hard_ to keep calm and controlled under.

"I-I-… Flying is _still_ better!" he managed to stutter out, vainly trying to twist his face into an appropriate scowl.

He had just realized what he had been doing… and he had been… he had… and it had felt…

He shook his head suddenly, trying to clear it, as Pudding blinked a few times. A few moments later, her smile returned at full strength.

"Then will you take Pudding flying?"

"Wha? I-I-"

It took all of his willpower to squeak out his response in the face of that hopeful gaze.

"M-m-maybe. Y-yeah…I…I gotta go!"

With that, he vanished, leaving Pudding to stare at empty space.

A few minutes later, Taruto was flying high over Tokyo's buildings, his heart beating disconcertingly fast, fists clenched in what remained of his shock.

What had he just felt? Every time he leaned back against her, what was that…that…?

More importantly, what had he just _said_?

Had he… had he heard himself correctly?

What had he just—

"Maybe, eh?"

The youngest alien froze in midair, looking about him, eyes finally landing on a smirking Kisshu.

The older boy was watching him with a teasing gleam in his eye, arms crossed nonchalantly over his chest as he flew closer to his comrade, smirk firmly in place. Taruto swallowed nervously before giving a high-pitched "I didn't… I mean, I wasn't…I didn't mean…!"

Still Kisshu's knowing eyes stayed on him, and he found himself blurting out the first fear that came to his mind.

"You're not going to tell Pai, are you?"

For a few seconds, silence reigned over the two, until, to Taruto's renewed shock, Kisshu began to laugh. It was a strange sort of laugh, and Taruto wasn't really sure if his friend was laughing at him, or at what he had said.

As the green-haired alien snickered, Taruto found himself remembering the feel of the swing underneath him, of the chain in his hands, remembering the way the girl had smiled at him, so eager for… eager to… just to…

"Stop it! It's not funny!" he yelled suddenly, then shut up immediately, nearly clapping a hand over his mouth as Kisshu stared at him in shock.

To his relief, and further surprise, his comrade broke into a small smile before reaching out and ruffling the brunette's hair. He grinned, an unidentifiable look in his eyes. "Nah. I won't tell."

Taruto looked down, somewhat embarrassed at having his hair messed with, yet no doubt relieved.

"Just as long as you keep your promise!"

Taruto stared at Kisshu as the older alien began to fly away, then broke free from his momentary paralysis and matched the other boy's speed.

"What do you mean, keep my promise?"

"I mean take her flying. You don't want to break a promise to your lady, after all."

"She's not my—!"

All of Taruto's usual tenacity returned to him as his companion snickered again.

"I didn't promise her anything!"

"Hehe. That's not what _I_ heard," Kisshu answered, devilish gleam in his golden eyes.

"You were…?"

Kisshu's wide grin was all the response he needed before he growled at the other.

"Gah! You… you…!"

He swung at his friend, who laughed and flew forward quickly, starting a chase back to the dimensional entrance.

Even as he flew after Kisshu, Taruto could not help devoting one little corner of his mind to just a few moments ago…

_My promise…_

_I didn't… but I guess I… didn't I...?_

_I did… my promise… maybe…_

Well, Pai always said manners were important, right?

Right. He always said they were the most important things.

But he always… _always_…

Not a human, never with a human…not like Kisshu…

Taruto looked up at the other boy, and for a moment, their gazes locked. In that moment, Taruto realized something about Kisshu, about why he had so easily, so gently ruffled his hair, about why he had seemed so oddly… _happy_.

In mid-chase, the little boy allowed himself a small, secret smile as he suddenly remembered the sense of safety that lay in falling back against her hands.

Even though he knew that in a few minutes, he would see Pai and have to swiftly push those thoughts and those memories back into the darkest corner of his mind, he allowed himself that small, almost timid smile. After that smile, he allowed himself one last thought that settled into that dark corner, quiet, but not to be forgotten, perhaps to be unearthed some future day…

_Nope. You can't break a promise to your lady._

* * *

AN: All righty then. That's done. Toni, I hope you're happy. Everyone else, I hope you somewhat enjoyed it. And yeah, I know it's probably a bit odd to see Kisshu acting somewhat brotherly to Taruto, but to be honest, after watching the last quarter or so of the anime, I really did get that vibe from them. I always thought that they'd interact that way if sort of given the chance… I mean, there's that whole Taruto-goes-with-Kisshu thing, and whatever… 

Heh, I'll stop explaining myself :P. Anyways, review if you can, please. Anyone who normally reads Healing that might have stumbled into this, I'm working on chapter 17. If this someone, by a wild chance, happens to be Dust-in, I'm planning P/L in 17 :P. Just had to share.

Ja ne, and thanks for reading!


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